Lake Superior Mining Company 1847-1848. Michigan's Upper Peninsula was rich in mineral deposits, primarily copper and iron, which were discovered on the 1840s. The Upper Peninsula's mines would eventually produce more mineral wealth than the California Gold Rush, especially after shipping was simplified with the opening of the Soo Locks in 1855 and docks in Marquette in 1859. The Upper Peninsula supplied 90% of America's copper by the 1860s. It would be the largest supplier of iron ore by the 1890s. The Lake Superior Copper Company was the first company to actually produce copper in the Lake Superior region. The archive consists of thirty-six (36) pieces: Notably a Broadside, 16Â½" x 21" headed "By The President of the United States. In pursuance of an act of Congress approved on the 1st day of March, 1847, establishing "a land office in the Northern part of Michigan, and to provide for the sale of mineral lands in the State of Michigan. The Broadside continues with all the associated legal requirements and is signed in type by President James Polk; an attractive manuscript map showing the Isle Royal on the shore of Lake Superior with identified tracts of land; two partly-printed pay receipts, each with an engraving of the "Inventors of Printing in the left margin; a Printed letter of Richard M. Young, Land Commissioner with instructions to Land Officers at Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan; an analysis of copper and silver on illustrated letterhead from Robert Longman, a "sweep smelter and refiner" dated at Brooklyn, 1846; plus five (5) letters written to the Lake Superior Copper Company, from February 1847 to March 1848, primarily one page and mostly discussing small stock transactions; with twenty (20) letters written between 1844-1846 discussing the mineral rights of the area; plus nine (9) miscellaneous related documents concerning insurance, leases, receipts, etcâ¦" A fascinating lot worthy of further research. Mostly fine or better.
[Bookseller: University Archives]